Love Isn't a Theory
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. – 1 John 3:16-18, NIV
We know and, to some extent realise, the love of God for us because Christ expressed it in laying down his life for us. We must in turn express our love by laying down our lives for those who are our brothers. But as for the well-to-do man who sees his brothers in want but shuts his eyes—and his heart—how could anyone believe that the love of God lives in him? My children, let us not love merely in theory or in words—let us love in sincerity and in practice! – 1 John 3:16-18, PHILLIPS (paraphrase)
“It is easier to be enthusiastic about Humanity with a capital “H” than it is to love individual men and women, especially those who are uninteresting, exasperating, depraved, or otherwise unattractive. Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular.” -C.S. Lewis
Love for our brothers and sisters in Christ cannot be theoretical. The love that ought to express itself in self-giving has to be so much more than a lot of fine sounding words or a cold distant idea. It must be love in action. It must be true not in the sense of truism, but in the sense of meaningful sacrifice on our part for the good of others. Jesus laid down His life, actually. He didn’t theoretically come to love humanity with a capital ‘H’. He came to lay down His life for His sheep (John 10:11). Once we come to be rescued by this ultimate act of self-giving love, that same kind of loving should become ours. We have been given eternal life so that we can love as Jesus loved and continues to love us. So we must be giving ourselves away for the benefit of others. Even the, “uninteresting, exasperating, depraved, or otherwise unattractive.” Maybe especially them. Because, Jesus loved us while we were all of those things too. His love was not given because we were lovely, it was given so we might be rescued. In our love for others, our motivation cannot be an ought. Rather, our motivation has to be a soul deep desire to love our brother or sister in Christ for their benefit. If we can keep this firmly in mind, it will save us from the treacherous path of loving others in our own power. It will force us to begin with dependence on the only source of internal change, the Holy Spirit. So, if we want to move love beyond the theory and into sincerity and practice, we will need to begin with prayer. Pray, “God, change my heart toward my sister (or brother) in Christ, that I might love them as I ought.” Until we begin there, we will fall short of what Christ’s love and example call us to. Love one another. Actually.